Saturday, October 31, 2015

Bones, Season Eleven, Episode Five: The Resurrection in the Remains

Okay, I know that you are probably surprised to see Bones on Fangs for the Fantasy. This is a one off cross over between Bones and Sleepy Hollow. If you happened to miss this episode of Bones because really, who would have expected a cross over episode between these two shows, not to worry, it wasn't strictly necessary to see Bones to understand this week's episode of Sleepy Hollow. Yes, I know that it makes absolutely no sense but here we go anyway.

Preston and Chris set up a kegger for a Halloween party. Unfortunately for Preston, he ends up falling through the floor. The hole in the ground reveals a decaying skeleton. Cue screams of terror.

Booth brings in some candy and naturally, Brennan is not pleased with the amount of candy saying that it's bad of children. Booth sees this as insurance to stop their house from being egged because last year, they ran out of candy. Brennan uses the opportunity to show him some displays that she has made for Christine (their daughter) and her friends. When Booth takes a bite of the brain, Brennan informs him that what he as actually eaten was her real model brain and not a piece of candy. Booth is absolutely horrified but then, who wouldn't be? Brennan then informs him that it's all a big joke which she did because it is customary to play pranks on people this time of year. The conversation comes to an end when they get a call about the skeleton that Preston and Chris found.

When they get the location of the skeleton, Hodgins is already examining the body. Brennan says that the killing could be ritualistic. Near the body they find a mort safe and so decide to open it up. Inside they find a body that likely dates from the 18th century. The head is missing as well. Booth questions what the two bodies have to do with each other.

Back at the Jeffersonian, Brennan is gloating about convincing Booth that he ate human brains. The team reports that the red coat the skeleton was wearing is the real deal. Brennan however says that she sees no conclusive cause of death. Brennan calls the remains fascinating but however tells her team to focus on the first remains that Preston and Chris found - the body of a woman.

Camille goes to see Angela, who has done a facial reconstruction of the victim. Camille shows Angela the ear from the corpse. They discover that the corpse had magenta hair and a bunch of piercings. Angela changes the facial reconstruction and they get a match to Sarah Lippman, who was reported missing yesterday.

Booth visits the hospital where Sarah worked and questions if there was anything different about her recently. Dr. John Cruz says that the changes in her appearance coincided with her application for residency. John points out Sarah's boyfriend Joe Brown. Booth tells John that Sarah has been found dead late last night. Booth asks about the nature of their relationship and John explains that people thought they were a weird match because Sarah was kind of dark and he is a good catholic boy. Really, a good Catholic boy? Does that claim mean anything these days? John adds that the last few weeks Sarah was happier than she has ever been.

Hodgins tells Wendell that thousands of beetles had to be killed to make the dye for the red coat, meaning that the corpse was a high ranking British officer. Wendell wonders why the body was under a church in the middle of nowhere if the person was of such high rank.

Booth examines Sarah's locker and discovers a book of witchcraft which has the same symbol as the iron coffin.

Later, Brennan explains to Hodgins that the symbol is a Nordic rune and that it's presence on the coffin and the victim's book suggest a link. Hodgins wonders if something otherworldly is going on here. Cue the arrival of Ichabod and Abby. Hodgins snarks about Crane's clothing and Crane says that he wears this kind clothing to honour the men who fought. Abby introduces herself and Crane and asks about the headless body and is adamant that they are not leaving without the bones because it's about solving a case in Sleepy Hollow.

FBI agent James Aubrey tells Booth that in looking through the Sleepy Hollow files he has discovered multiple victims who have lost their heads. Booth says that they are going to help Ichabod and Abby, even though Brennan isn't going to like it. James snarks about Ichabod being scared for life by his name. Even though this cross over doesn't make any sense whatsoever, it's nice to see someone point out just how anachronistic Crane is.

Brennan gives Crane a tour of the Jeffersonian and asks why Crane is so interested in the remains. Crane explains that he believes that the remains belong to Abraham Van Brunt, who was decapitated on the battle field by a patriot. Brennan concurs that the age is consistent with Van Brunt but the cause of death is in question because it is off by 200 years. Brennan explains that the body was beheaded by a modern saw. Angela interrupts the conversation to say that she has made a facial reconstruction which she runs through software to find a match. Brennan speculates about whether Crane is sleeping with Abby and he is quick to say no. Brennan tells him to consider it because she has reaped the benefits of mixing her personal life with her professional life. Yes, the entire thing is as awkward as you might imagine. Angela finds a match and Crane explains that it is General Howe - a man who was famed for his cruelty and strategic mind. Crane calls it a mystery of the highest magnitude and swears he won't rest until he gets to the bottom of it.

Booth and Abby are searching Sarah's home and they come across a fine tooth saw with red string hanging from it. Both points out that this is the type of saw used on General Howe.

Crane goes through the book found in Sarah's home. Brennan wonders what a medical student is doing with a book of nonsense but Crane calls it a book of spells which only the most learned of scholars could unlock. Hodgins says that they need to use candle light on the spells and when Crane holds a page a lit candle, it reveals a message about the witnesses using the skull to raise the dead. Brennan tells Crane to use anything he needs to get to the bottom of this.

Wendell reports to Camille what he has learned from Sarah's body and they discuss the cause of death. It seems that there is a problem regarding Sarah's time of death because her brain indicates that she has dead several times.

Booth and James talk about the fact that there's no record of Sarah visiting a hospital. After looking at Sarah's financials, the only odd thing James could find is an expensive bottle of champagne on a Tuesday night. The men realise that Sarah was celebrating and wonder who she was celebrating with.

Wendell and Camille hypothesize that Sarah might have been beaten to death with the General's skull but there is an indication that Sarah ran into something sharp.

Abby heads to see Booth after getting back form the bar where Sarah drank the champagne. Booth snarks about Corbin being right that Abby is not one for following the rules. It seems that Corbin thought Booth and Abby were alike. Booth tells Abby that she doesn't have to save the world all in one day. Abby reports that Sarah was seen celebrating with a dark haired guy.

James confronts Martin about a note he wrote to Sarah and James informs him that he is gay. Martin explains that he and Sarah became friends because they both had close calls with death at a young age. Sarah had become obsessed with the passing of her younger sister. Sarah it seems was desperate to find out what happens after death and so asked Martin to kill her. Martin induced her heart to stop and then he restarted it. Martin did this two weeks ago and Sarah apparently saw her sister who told Sarah to let go of all of her fear. James questions the digging up of How and Martin explains that Sarah thought the General's body has power. James points out that what Martin did is actually attempted murder.

Angela and Hodgins talk about Abby and Ichabod. Hodgins says that they are like them but Angela believes that they are like Brennan and Booth.

Hodgins, Camille and James go to look at the bodies in the hospital morgue for splatter and they find arterial spray on the ceiling. The three determine that this is where Sarah died.

Crane goes to see Brennan to say that Jefferson would have approved of the archive. Bones is examining Sarah's bones and Crane surmises that the death of Sarah;s sister made her seek out the hereafter. Brennan of course is a non believer and says that the hereafter does not exist. Brennan believes that it's something humans created to help soothe our fear of death. Crane shows Brennan a letter he found written by Washington, in which he ordered Howe's body to be interred preferably in Sleepy Hollow. Brennan is skeptical about the letter but promises that if it proves authentic, they can have the body.

The crew is now digging through the medical waste and they find injection viles which makes no sense for an anatomy lab. It's not long before they find Howe's skull.

James heads to see Booth and reports on what Hodgins found in the medical waste.

Brennan heads to see Angela to discuss the letter and Angela explains that the signature is a perfect match but the handwriting of the man that Washington was dictating to is an exact match to Ichabod Crane. Brennan is shocked because the letter has been in their archives for half a century. Angela again confirms that the handwriting belongs to Ichaobd Crane.

James is talking to Dr. Cruz about medicines that Sarah got instead of his patients. James accuses Dr. Cruz of helping Sarah to stop her heart. Cruz says that his wife left him but Sarah had nothing to do with it. It seems that Sarah smelled alcohol on Cruz's breathe when he was leaving surgery and blackmailed him into giving her the drugs.

Crane shows up and crows about the authentication of the letter. Brennan asks about the fact that the paper is 200 years old, as well as the ink, but the writing matches that of Crane. Crane explains that he knew of this letter because it was written by his ancestor Ichabod Crane and suggests that handwriting might be an inherited quality. Brennan says if all other possibilities are eliminated whatever remains must be the truth. Crane recognizes this as a quote from Sherlock Holmes. Brennan agrees to let them have the body after the case is solved because the skull is the murder weapon. They talk about Howe's missing tooth and when Crane suggests that it was porcelain an excited Brennan wonders if the tooth scraped the killer.

Abby and Booth sit down with Joel and question what happened the night Sarah died. They believe that Sara wanted him to experience a near death experience. Joel admits to lying because he didn't want to get kicked out of the program. They note that Josh is no longer wearing his cross and ask him what he saw on the other side. Josh admits that nothing happened and asks how one is to live with knowing that there is nothing after. It seems that Josh killed Sarah because she took his faith away.

Booth, Brennan, Abby and Crane sit to have a drink. Brennan agrees to prepare Howe's bones for transport. Booth asks Abby to call if she needs anything . Brennan and Booth leave after agreeing on a friendship with Crane and Abby. Crane and Abby stay to finish their drink.

Wendall has Howe's remains ready to go and Brennan is upset that they weren't already shipped. When Brennan pulls back the cloth Booth is lying there in a scary mask. Brennan is shocked and tries to pretend that she wasn't scared. Booth says that the remains have been sent back to Sleepy Hollow. Brennan however plans to prank Wendell for his role in setting her up.

Okay, so this is officially the cross over that no one wanted but they made anyway. Because these shows have absolutely nothing in common, it didn't work like a typical crossover. Abby and Crane were rudely interjected into the world of the Jeffersonian. It all felt incredibly awkward and forced. I was particularly irritated that Ichabod was made even more anachronistic than he normally is to make him stand out and create a slight conflict with Brennan.

Then we had the bonding with Booth and Abby over Corbin and their jobs as FBI agents. Booth's decision to help Abby and Crane because she was one of Corbin's protegees. Quick question, who the hell didn't Corbin mentor? Also, why exactly is Abby supposed to listen to Booth when she's known him for a New York minute? And what kind of nerve does it take to give life advice to a woman you have just met? Yeah, at that point I kind of wanted Booth to have several seats.

Here's the thing, because these characters were rammed together, they lacked any kind of chemistry. I absolutely couldn't wait for the episode to be over. Even Hodgins who I expected to be all over this given the conspiracy nut that he is really fell flat to me. The whole thing just lacked excitement.

Then there's forced humour which took the form of Brennan advising Crane to sleep with Abby. To be clear I love Brennan's attitude towards sex and know that she is am empowered woman but this scene was just played for kicks and it irked me. I know that it formed a little bit of fan service because there are those who wish to see Crane and Abby get it on but before they can even approach this, they need to totally crush the specter of the show wrecking Katrina. Furthermore, doesn't Abby deserve better than to be the rebound chick?

Okay they did the cross over. I endured it and now we can all pretend that it never happened.